0609 Local Time

Battambang, Cambodia

I'm leaving Battambang today. Dave and Doris and the entire short term team that I've been with this week will be heading to Phnom Penh to catch their flight home. It's been a tiring but good 5 days here. We completed the fence that we started. The sunburn on my calves that I got from planting rice is still a little sensitive but much better. Yesterday the short term team performed a skit and song at a New Life in Christ event; more on that later.

When we stopped working on the fence on Monday we had all the posts in and about one and a half rows of barbed wire up. Joseph, the owner of the orchard we were fencing in wanted about 5 rows so we had a ways to go. When we returned on Wednesday to finish it we found that it was almost finished. On Tuesday Joseph and his family had returned to the orchard and finished almost three rows by themselves. Dave and Doris were particularly encouraged by this because it showed that Joseph was taking ownership of the fence and seeing it as his own and therefore willing to put work into it. The danger in giving, supporting, and providing for locals is the creation of a dependency relationship. This is why simply sending money will never work. Its the same reason that some take advantage of welfare, the money comes from some impersonal source and there is no accountability. So instead of using the money to help themselves get on their feet, many take advantage of it and spend it on luxuries they would not have otherwise been able to afford. That is why it is crucial to have people on the ground assessing the need and finding ways to "teach a man to fish" and not just "feed him for a day". Micro credit is one way to accomplish this, by letting the lenders know that they need to pay back their small loan they are forced to use it with long term beneficial goals in mind. With service projects, the overwhelming response when foreign aid comes to build something for local people they will not make an effort to care for or maintain the structure simply because "the foreigners built it, it was free, I don't need to care for it". It is unfortunate, but good stewardship is difficult when there is no sense of ownership. Think about the last time you rented a car or stayed in a hotel room.

The New Life in Christ event is one that is held three times a year for AIDS patients that is part health education and part spiritual encouragement and teaching. Those who attend are leaders and members of local churches in Battambang who are involved in care ministries for the HIV positive and the patients themselves. In a conversation with Sharon, a missionary from the Philippines, she told me that the skit and song that the youth of the short term team performed was a good change from the regular program that they hold at these meetings. The skit was performed to the audio track of Brandon Heath's Give Me Your Eyes, and clearly communicated our need for God's perspective to be able to see and love those around us who are in need. A local pastor gave a message in Khmai, I heard that his experience of being a monk has been central to his ability to preach the gospel in a way that challenges many in this Buddhist nation.

Prayer Requests:

• Safe travel to Phnom Penh
• Time to prep for the youth program at Field Forum. I'm supposed to meet with one of the organizers, Mary Westergren, sometime over the next few days.